1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data communication apparatus connected to an external information processing terminal through an interface.
2. Related Background Art
A facsimile communication system in which a facsimile apparatus and an external information terminal are connected through an interface to form the facsimile communication system, and the facsimile transmission is commanded from the external information processing terminal to the facsimile apparatus or a document prepared on the external information processing terminal is printed out by the facsimile apparatus, has recently been widely used. Further, a system in which an external information processing terminal having a facsimile apparatus connected thereto is connected to a LAN (local area network) to allow an operation similar to that of the facsimile apparatus from a plurality of information processing terminals has become populated. In such a facsimile communication system, the IEEE P1284 which is a bilateral parallel interface has been widely used as an interface to connect the facsimile apparatus and the external information processing terminal. In the facsimile communication system which adopts the IEEE P1284 as the interface, the data exchange with command and response is started by sending a command from the external information processing terminal which serves as a host, and the facsimile apparatus which serves as a peripheral device merely returns a response to a command from the host. Under this environment, information as to whether the facsimile apparatus is in transmission, in reception or in an abnormal condition is informed from the facsimile apparatus to the external information processing terminal by issuing from the external information processing terminal a command to acquire the status of the facsimile apparatus.
However, in the prior art system, when the facsimile apparatus of the facsimile communication system is in the transmission state or the reception state, information such as the exhaustion of record sheets or an error in the printer cannot be informed until the inquiry is made by the external information processing terminal to the facsimile apparatus about the status of the record sheets and the printer after the completion of the transmission or reception being processed. In order to solve the above problem, the external information processing terminal must sequentially inquire to the facsimile apparatus about anticipated events such as the exhaustion of the record sheets at any time during the operation such as in the transmission or in the reception. It is very troublesome and the process that should be executed in the external information processing terminal increases, a system throughput is reduced, and an operation efficiency is lowered.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a data communication apparatus in light of the above problems.
It is another object of the present invention to allow efficient transmission of information on the data communication apparatus with an information processing terminal.
Other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments.